It’s always interesting to look back on a year of website statistics and evaluate what you loved (or loved to hate) reading the most. As we break for the year, we take you back, in no particular order, to our top 10 stories for 2016.
Remembering Record Store Row:
This story was piloted by Vancouver Shakedown columnist Grant Lawrence, and it focused on Vancouver’s fraught record store industry and its continued evolution in Vancouver. The article explored Seymour Street’s long-lost record store row, and how many stores have closed (and opened) in the intervening years.
Drop the needle here:
http://www.westender.com/news-issues/vancouver-shakedown/remembering-record-store-row-1.2318591
Expo 86: A troubled legacy:
Some consider Expo 86 a turning point in Vancouver while others consider it one of the worst events to take place in the city. In chronicling that divide, Grant Lawrence also focuses on the friction that arose due to the forced evictions of 600 long-term residents as Expo loomed, while highlighting how the event acted as a cultural catalyst and put the city on the world’s radar.
Read all about it here:
http://www.westender.com/news-issues/vancouver-shakedown/expo-86-a-troubled-legacy-1.2241488
The dirty truth about Vancouver estate:
Vancouverites love to talk about two things: rain and real estate. And, as the author points out in this story, we can’t control either. This story focuses on single-family Vancouver homes that are worth more than $1 million. However, the price of real estate in Vancouver has been ridiculed since the city was incorporated, and not much has changed since.
Read about the “dirty truth” here:
Best of the City: Dining Results 2016
Each year we ask our readers to tell us their favourite places to eat and drink in Vancouver. And, each year, the survey provides a handy guide to the best spots to pull up a chair (or stool) in the city right now.
Dig in here:
http://www.westender.com/best-of-the-city/best-of-the-city-dining-2016-the-results-are-in-1.2427284
Beyond Pickton
Everyone knows the name Robert Pickton, one of the most infamous serial killers in Canadian history. But what do you know of his victims? This article by Sabrina Furminger looks at the making of On The Farm – a movie that tells their stories.
Revisit Beyond Pickton here:
http://www.westender.com/arts-culture/reel-people/beyond-pickton-1.2301320
Positively 4th Avenue: The rise and fall of Canada’s hippie mecca
Vancouver was once the hippie capital of the world. This article from Grant Lawrence takes us through the history of the West 4th hippie scene via first-person interviews, and shows snapshots of the love and hate hippies received from the public and police, ending with the impact that can be felt in this city to this day.
Journey back in time here:
When street gangs ruled Vancouver
Another historical jaunt by Grant that takes us back to a time in East Vancouver where violence, hate and misunderstanding ran rampant. Here, Lawrence uses a book by author Aaron Chapman that was released in November to examine that turbulent time.
Experience it here:
http://www.westender.com/news-issues/vancouver-shakedown/when-street-gangs-ruled-vancouver-1.2409118
Ask Mish: Sex stress and millennial dating
As one of the most popular columns in the Westender, Ask Mish has long been a go-to source for your relationship questions and quandaries. Of all of Mish Way's highly illuminating, deeply personal replies, however, this Ask Mish column was the most read.
Find the answers for millennial dating here:
In Memoriam: Chef Tina Fineza
One of Vancouver’s most respected chefs, Tina Fineza, passed away earlier this year. In response, food reviewer Anya Levykh penned a touching tribute to a true “chef’s chef”.
http://www.westender.com/eat-drink/in-memoriam-chef-tina-fineza-1.2147499
10 Best BC Breweries Ranked:
What better way to finish off this article and the year than with a round up of the top 10 breweries in BC? No matter where your family festivities take you in the province, there is probably a great tasting room just a growler away.
http://www.westender.com/eat-drink/the-growler/10-best-b-c-breweries-ranked-1.2353690
